1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus including a display unit for displaying an operation screen provided by an external apparatus.
2. Description of the Art
An image processing apparatus having functions of a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a scanner is commonly known. A multifunction peripheral (MFP) is one such image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus executes the functions of a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a scanner based on an instruction from a user.
Some image processing apparatuses include a display unit such as a web browser which enables access to the external apparatus such as a web server on a network.
Further, such a method is known that an operation screen of the MFP is implemented in a web server and the operation screen of the web server is used by using the web browser installed in the MFP. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-127503 discusses a processing method as described below. The web server provides the operation screen to the MFP. The user who operates the MFP inputs input information via the operation screen displayed by the web browser. Thus input information is notified to the web server via the web browser. The web server generates a processing request (e.g., a printing request or a scanning request) for requesting execution of various types of processing to the MFP according to a content of the input information and transmits the processing request to the MFP. Accordingly, the MFP processes an image based on this processing request.
Owing to a technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-127503, it becomes unnecessary for the MFP itself to hold the operation screen for operating the MFP and, therefore, a customization of the operation screen can be done on the web server with ease.
In a case where the operation screen of the MFP is displayed by the web browser, the following issues may occur. In the input information input via the operation screen displayed by the web browser, there is a case where secret information, which the user does not want a third party to know, is contained in the input information. Nonetheless, the secret information maybe transmitted to the web server via the network. As a result thereof, the secret information may be sniffed on the network or in the web server.
For example, a case where a “job for generating an encryption Portable Document Format (PDF)” is executed by using the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-127503 is studied below. In this case, the user enters an encryption password for generating the encryption PDF via the operation screen. The web browser transmits the encryption password to the web server although the encryption password is secret information that the user does not want a third party to know.